CLUB RIVIERA AND ASSOCIATED TIMESHARE MALPRACTICE

That this House notes that the Office of Fair Trading revoked the credit licences of the United Kingdom's largest timeshare company Club Riviera in July because of 'seriously misleading and deceptive conduct' which netted it ú17.6 million in sales and 20,000 customers, that the Department of Trade and Industry has permitted those responsible for such conduct, Laurence Werner, Simon Clarke and others, to continue to run the company, and that this conduct also applies to Club Riviera associates, Club Tenerife, Canary Islands Holiday Club, Regency Palms, Marbella Beach Club, Vacation Management Services, Olympus Resources and Mackintosh Associates; notes further that they intimidate consumers they have cheated, repossess thousands of properties resulting from high maintenance charge disputes, tricked consumers by offering a buy-back guarantee which was not honoured, use the buy-sell scam to saddle consumers with two timeshare properties, and that investigations are now being carried out by the Fraud Office into these companies and that, like Land Travel, this company has failed to file its accounts within the legal timescale and that the records at Companies House do not reveal the companies' principals; expresses its concern that the Government's timeshare legislation is woefully inadequate; calls on the President of the Board of Trade to investigate the role of Garrick Investments Ltd. and all others who control these companies and to take immediate action to protect existing customers and the public from malpractices; and congratulates Alan Klein and John Hewens for setting up the Concerned Owners Group which has 700 members fighting for the rights of timeshare owners.